1572 FLIGHT International, 26 November 1977
Rivals met at last when F-14 (below) and F-15
(right) flew in combat at Nellis Air Force
Base, Nevada
mini
DEFENCE
F-14s and F-15s fight it out
WHAT must surely go down as the
dogfight of the decade took place last
month when USAF F-15s and USN
F-14s clashed in simulated air combat
at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. On
three separate days—.October 11, 12
and 13—F-14 Tomcats from VF-1
Squadron, Miramar Naval Air Sta
tion, flew to the Nevada range to take
part in what was officially billed as
"gunnery practice" for a "Red Flag"
exercise. In fact, this seems to have
been an unofficial shoot-out between
the rival US fighters.
Each time the Navy pilots reached
Nellis from their temporary base at
Fallon Naval Air Station, Nevada, 200
miles away, they fought against a
number of F-15s which were waiting
for them. The Tomcats carried TV
sighting units installed during the
recent Air Combat Evaluation
(Aceval) trials. To judge by the
resulting films, the USAF pilots—
from the 217th and 94th Tactical
Fighter Squadrons, Langley AFB, and
433 Fighter Weapons Squadron, Nellis
AFB—came off badly.
Exact details are not yet available,
as the impromptu dogfights had not
even been reported to the Pentagon
when Flight began making enquiries
last week. Engagements included
combats between single aircraft, two-
on-one and two-on-two, with indi
vidual aircraft attempting to get
behind their opponents and take gun-
camera or TV films in order to
authenticate the "kill".
Attacks were pressed home down
to gun range (300-l,000yd), and on at
least one occasion a Navy aircraft
dropped chaff to break the lock-on
obtained by an attacking F-15.
WSmBm •Milillili •Hi •IB
•
Engagement altitudes varied be
tween 18,000ft and 36,000ft, and the
dogfights began at a range of four or
five miles. Tomcat has always been
considered the better long-range inter-
cepter because of its Phoenix missile
and AWG-9 fire-control system, but
the Navy aircraft seem also to have
been able to out-turn the F-15.
Even during manoeuvres demand
ing a tight turn and subsequent climb,
the F-14 seems to have come off best.
By JOHN REA
The fixed F-15 wing has its highest
level of turning efficiency at Mach
0-91, while the automatically adjust
ing swing wings of the F-14 are con
tinuously matched to the prevailing
Mach number.
Although the Langley-based F-15s
were fitted with the modified F10O
engine, which is less susceptible to
stalls, the film footage brought back
by the Tomcats suggests that the
USAF are not yet out of the woods
With the Pratt & Whitney powerplant.
Several of the F-15s "shot down"
were seen to have experienced after
burner blowouts while trying to out
manoeuvre their pursuers.
The Navy interceptor has had its
own powerplant troubles, but the air
craft taking part in the recent shoot-
outs were not the new Block 90 con
figuration, which incorporates some
of the planned TF30 engine modifica
tions.
The idea of an F-14/F-15 shoot-out
is not new. Three years ago such a
trial was being openly mooted by
various members of Congress. At one
time the debate between supporters
of the rival aircraft reached such an
intensity that it was facetiously sug
gested that live ammunition be used.
After a brief flurry in the headlines,
the concept of a shoot-off was quietly
dropped, having been branded "juve-
.nile" by civilian project managers in
the Pentagon.
Given the traditional US inter-
service rivalry and the natural desire